Night School: Resistance (Night School 4)

She couldn’t read his expression in the dark, but she felt like his eyes were judging her, condemning her. She wanted to get away but couldn’t seem to move; to free herself from that awful glare – until Carter stepped in front of her, arms crossed, blocking his view.

Allie’s lungs felt compressed. She shivered as Jerry was hustled into the school building, disappearing in the shadows.

Carter spun round, searching her face. ‘You OK?’ he asked. ‘What the hell was that about?’

She shook her head.

Sylvain joined them, his face tight. He met Carter’s gaze. ‘I didn’t like that look.’

‘Me neither,’ Carter said.

‘Was that the real Jerry?’ Zoe asked. ‘And the one we knew before was the pretend?’

But no one knew the answer to that question.



After the guards and teachers disappeared, the students stood in a tight cluster on the front steps, unsure of what to do. The night seemed darker now, more oppressive.



‘I’m not tired,’ Zoe announced.

‘No,’ Nicole said, looking around the group. ‘None of us are.’

‘Common room,’ Carter said. ‘It’s after curfew but no one’s going to care.’

They trooped down the empty hallway to the big student living room, with its deep leather chairs and sofas, and bookcases piled high with board games. The baby grand piano stood quietly in one corner like a reminder that this was supposed to be a place where people had fun.

They settled near the back and talked in quiet tones.

‘He didn’t look roughed up,’ Carter said, glancing at Sylvain. ‘I was surprised by that.’

Sylvain gave a shrug that said he didn’t care whether Jerry was roughed up or not. ‘Raj said he didn’t fight.’

‘Why didn’t he fight?’ Zoe asked. Everyone looked at her. ‘I mean, he didn’t want to get caught, did he? So why not at least try to get away? There would have been other people there. He could have … done things.’

There was some truth to this and the students looked at each other with growing unease.

‘You don’t think … did he want to be caught?’ Rachel looked queasy.

‘And be brought back here.’ Nicole finished the thought, her eyes dark with worry.

‘But why?’ Allie asked. ‘They’ll have searched him, so he can’t have brought anything. He’ll be kept under guard, so he can’t escape. So … why come back?’

No one had an answer to that.

‘Either way,’ Nicole said, ‘poor Eloise.’

‘I know …’ Allie thought of the teacher’s grim determination as she fought the man she’d loved. ‘He broke her heart.’

‘He broke everyone’s heart,’ Rachel said softly.

Isabelle had told them what would happen next – Jerry would be questioned, then she and Lucinda would try to trade him back to Nathaniel.

‘In exchange for what?’ Allie had asked, wondering what on earth they would want from him.

Isabelle’s reply had been simple. ‘Peace.’

She and Lucinda were going to try to use Jerry to buy an end to this battle. Or at least to buy time to negotiate. They believed there must be a connection between the two men. Something powerful enough that Jerry would be willing to give up his very identity for more than half a decade to hide at Cimmeria under an assumed name.

The students talked for hours in the near dark. Their conversation was largely circular, returning repeatedly to Jerry and betrayal. Zoe finally fell asleep with her head on Allie’s knees and her feet on Rachel’s lap.

As she watched her sleep, her chest rising and falling with each slow, regular breath, Allie felt a wave of protectiveness for her so profound it shook her. She had to find a way to keep her safe. To keep them all safe.

Dawn had just begun to break when they heard footsteps in the hallway. Isabelle rushed in, looking around until her eyes lighted on them. In the darkness it was difficult to make out her features.

‘There you are.’ Her tone was curt, as if she’d found them playing truant. ‘Allie, come with me please. I need you.’

Allie didn’t ask any questions.

With slow, careful movements, she extricated herself from beneath Zoe, who didn’t wake, but turned over on to her side and curled up into a ball.

As she brushed past Carter he caught her hand in his. His grip was warm and reassuring.

‘Be careful,’ he said.

His touch made her feel braver. She raised her chin.

‘Always.’





28





Twenty-eight





Isabelle led the way down the darkened hallway to a narrower corridor, then through an innocuous-looking door into one of the school’s old servants’ staircases. The winding stone stairwell smelled of damp and dust. The deeper they descended the cooler it became.

Funny, Allie thought. It’s meant to be hot in hell.

The headmistress didn’t speak as they entered the tangled spiderweb of cellar corridors beneath the school building. Flickering wall sconces were the only light. Things moved in the air around them.

Allie hoped it was just particles of dust.

In the gloom, it was impossible to keep track of where they were but, finally, they turned a corner and a cluster of guards appeared ahead of them, in front of an ancient, arched door.